Tagged: Austin Kearns
“The Time Has Come To Test Thy Courage”
“The time has come to test thy courage,” said the Great Deku Tree to Link. Link, just a little boy, did what he had to do to try and save the Deku Tree in what is arguably the greatest video game ever made, “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.” He may have been frightened, but he was in no place to worry. Link just put aside whatever worries he may have had, and walked right into the tree into a mess of enemies. He didn’t sit there for days worrying or trying to hypothesize what would happen – he just did what he had to do.
Oh, if ONLY I was more like Link…
In these few days before the Yankees and Twins go at it in the ALDS, I have been a mess. I’ve been trying to predict who will pitch well, who will hit well, who will WIN, everything. It’s driving me insane. I wish I could just sit back, relax, and let what happens happen. But I just CAN’T.
One thing my mind has been wrestling over the past few days has been the Yankee pitching. CC Sabathia is going up against Francisco Liriano in game 1. Then it’s Andy Pettitte for game 2, and Phil Hughes for game 3. The Yanks are going with the 3-man rotation like last season…or is it.
I’m going to be honest: I had WAY more confidence in the Yankee pitching last year. This year? Not so much…especially down the stretch. I’m just so worried about these three guys the Yankees are sending out there. Phil Hughes, on paper, has had a nice season, but he has been pretty darn bad in the second half. Andy Pettitte has had just three starts since his long DL stint. He was good in the first game, but the last two were hard to watch. Then there is CC…Oh, CC…C”Cy,”….my sweet Hefty-Lefty. CC has been the best pitcher in baseball since he joined the Yankees…why should I worry about him?
BECAUSE HE’S BEEN SOOOO GOOD FOR SOOOO LONG THAT HE’S BOUND TO DO BADLY SOONER OR LATER!!!
And because the pressure is on him! Okay it was on him last year when he was the ace, but there is more pressure this year because EVERYONE ELSE SUCKS!!! Last year Burnett was a beast, and Pettitte was healthy and successful….This year is SO different and I really don’t like it.
Okay that’s a little unfair – everyone else doesn’t suck. I’m sorry guys…I’m just a little stressed out here…you know I didn’t mean that.
And who am I kidding? Pressure…CC Sabathia…Pshhh…yeah right. Hello! Earth to Virginia! You call him C”Cy” for a reason!
I’m not really worried about the offense…I’m more worried about Joe Girardi. He tends to do things his way…which backfires more often than one would think. He handles the bullpen well, but not so much the lineups. I saw that Austin Kearns is on the postseason roster…I can’t help but to worry if Girardi is going to utilize his lefty-pitcher-righty-hitters lineup, which would feature the strikeout king himself, Austin Kearns. I just wish Girardi will use his best players. I hope he listens to me. Just because the opposing team has a lefty pitcher doesn’t mean the Yankees had to send out subpar righties. It’s stupid.
Girardi, all I ask of you is to send out the Yankees best troops, no matter what the situation.
Well, tomorrow’s the big night. There is nothing I can do about it. I mustn’t worry, for what good will that do now? The performance of my Yankees is out of my control. I must accept this, and I must be brave.
-Deep breath, sigh-
Indeed, the time has come to test thy courage, MY courage, in this 2010 postseason.
GO YANKEES!!!
Grandma Makes Me Laugh
Since the last few Yankee games have been abysmal, I don’t want to talk about them. They are making me angry. I need a few laughs. So today, I’m going to talk about someone who never fails to make me laugh. She is a die-hard Yankees fan just like me. She’s my Grandma.
My Grandma is 86 years old. And she’s kind of Italian. And she’s lived in the Bronx her whole life. She does a lot to make us laugh, but the main thing she does is butcher words. Like when she says “toast,” she actually says “toes.” Or “dollar” is “dolla.” She never puts the “r” on her words. And sometimes, when she hears people actually put the “r” on the words, she says things like, “Oooh they talk with the ‘r’.”
Throughout the many years I have known my Grandma, and the many Yankee games we’ve watched together, I’ve noticed something: She butchers everybody’s name. And what’s really funny is that she actually says these things!
Here is a chunk of the Yankee roster – the way Grandma pronounces it:
– Mariani Rivera
Mariani, Grandma? Really? Must you make EVERYBODY Italian? How about Mariano? Or if that’s too complicated, why not just call him Mo?
– CC Sebastian
Look at CC…he’s obviously disgusted this “name.” Sebastian…where is that from? Okay. Grandma’s niece’s son is named Sebastian. But really, there is no excuse for that.
– Robinson Canoe
I guess this one was easy to mess up. But really? CANO.
– Kerry Woods
Again, this one is probably easy to mess up. But somtimes, I think she tries to mess them up. Kerry WOOD…is it really that hard?
– Derek Jeetah
Grandma never pronounces the “r” on the end of Jeter’s name. It’s just “Jeetah.” It rhymes with “cheetah.”
– Austin Sterns
I think Grandma only said this one once, but that’s because I corrected her right away. Kearns…Austin KEARNS.
– Curtain Granderson
Okay, this one isn’t really fair. Grandma just got tongue-twisted when she called him “Curtain.” But she still said it. Me, my little brother, and my Grandma were all watching the game one night. Me and my brother left the room for a minute, and Grandma shouted “HOME RUN!!” We asked, “Who, Grandma who!”
“Curt..uhhh…Cu…Curtain…oh, ah fanabla.”
She didn’t need to explain any more. We got it. Through our frenzy of laughter, we explained, “CURTIS!!!! CURTIS GRANDERSON!!! Aahahhahaaa….you just called him CURTAIN!!!!”
– Nick Swiffah
This one is everyone in my family’s favorite. She messed up the mess up. “Swiffah?” How about “Swiffer?” Or better yet, NICK SWISHER!!!!
This one has a little story. It happened one night during the offseason of 2008. It was dinnertime, and everyone was coming into the kitchen. We left the YES Network on as always. News of the Betemit/Swisher trade was just released.
Grandma just found out about this trade. She didn’t know who the guy was that the Yankees just got. So she shouted, “ROBBIT, (“Robbit” is my older brother, Robert. We all call him Bobby. She calls him “Robbit,” as opposed to “Robert” or Bobby.”) ROBBIT…”
“Yes Grandma?” Bobby asked.
“WHO’S….NICK….SWIFFAH?”
Bobby was silent, confused like the rest of us.
“Who?” He asked.
“WHO’S NICK SWIFFAH?” Grandma tried again.
This time, Bobby went to the TV to see for himself. The headline “Yanks Trade for Nick Swisher.”
“GRANDMAAA!!!! It’s NICK SWISHER!!!!”
She didn’t have time to respond. We all started laughing at her. But she was a good sport about it, as always. “Oooh!” she said. Then she joined in with laughs. To this day, we still remind her of this one. And she never got it wrong the right way again. Now she calls him “Swizza.” Then I say, “No, Grandma…Nick SWISHER.”
I don’t think she’ll ever get it right.
A Taste of Their Own Medicine
Offense Explodes and Power Surges
Well, it’s not really fair to say that home runs are the Jays’s medicine. After all, the Yankees are the Bronx Bombers. So the Blue Jays lead the Bigs in home runs…big deal. Bautista has 40, when his previous career high was 16. Take away half of Bautista’s homers, because their is no way they are legit, and then the Yanks and Jays are neck-and-neck in the home run count. The Yankees had 5 homers last night. Combine that with solid starting pitching, and you have a win. The Yanks evened the series last night with their 11-5 victory.
Pitching Analysis: Ken Singleton pointed out during the broadcast that Dustin Moseley had alternated wins and losses in all of his Yankee starts. He won his last start, so according to the trend, Moseley was going to lose last night. But after Moseley struckout the steroid monster Bautista to end the 1st inning, I had a feeling the trend would end. And I was right.
Dustin’s game face
Moseley pitched beautifully again last night, tossing 6 innings of 2-run ball. He didn’t allow a home run. The other three Blue Jay runs were given up by Chad Gaudin.
Offensive Analysis: The 11 Yankee runs came mostly off the longball. And it was so fun to watch. Homer after homer, the Yankee attitudes remained the same. Each Yankee who homered rounded the bases in the most modest and classy manner – perfectly Yankee. There was no bat-flipping, staring, trotting, or fist pumping right in the catcher’s face as they crossed the plate (ahem, Jose Bautista). They just put their adorable faces down and ran. God I love these men.
The 3rd inning alone contained 3 of the Yankees’s 5 home runs. First was Mark Teixeira, whose solo home run gave the Yanks a 3-0 lead.
After a Robinson Cano walk, Marcus Thames went deep with a 2-run shot.
And Jorge Posada went back to back with Marcus.
In the 5th, after a Marcus Thames single and an Austin Kearns walk, Curtis Granderson decided it was his turn to go deep. His 3-run shot gave the Yanks a 9-1 lead.
Then, it was the Captain’s turn. It was Jeet’s first home run since….jeez, I don’t even remember! That made it 10-1. And the Yanks went on to win it 11-5.
Overall, it was a great win for the Yankees. They pounded out 11 runs on 17 hits, and got contributions from guys up and down the lineup. The heroes for the victory are the Homer Boys Tex, Thames, Jo-Po, GrandyMan, and Jeet, as well as starter Dustin Moseley.
The Somebody Needs a Hug recipient is Nick Swisher. In the 7th inning last night, Swish fouled a ball off his knee, and he went down. He yelped in pain…which really hurts me. It’s sad to see Nick Swisher not smiling. The part that made me yell, “AWWWW” was when Swish insisted that he stay in the game. But two pitches later in to the at bat, Girardi pulled him. Swish again put up a fight, but it was no use: Girardi won. Then Brett Gardner had to finish the at bat. It was his birthday, and he didn’t even think he was going to play. He didn’t even have his high socks. Brett struckout. I’m sure he, and Swish, were not too thrilled.
Swisher says he is okay. He was his jolly smiley self in his postgame interview. I hope he can play today ♥
GO YANKEES!!!
Taming the Tigers
Yanks Take 3 of 4!
The Yankees haven’t won a series since they took 3 of 4 from the Indians at Cleveland on July 26th, 28th, and 29th. That’s a long time. So this series win is especially tasty, because the Yanks haven’t had that taste of victory in awhile. In the last 2 games, the offense exploded. Nice. And yesterday, the Yankees received a short but sweet performance from their starter. It was the perfect recipe for success. The Yanks won the finale by the score of 11-5.
Pitching Analysis: I missed seeing start of the game because I was coming home after a college tour, but I caught it on the radio. I was hoping for big things from Phil Hughes. After I heard that Miguel Cabrera homered AGAIN to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, I wasn’t so sure. And the Yankee offense couldn’t do anything off Porcello (early, that is), so I thought they reverted back to their old ways of dying early on.
But then, Phil Hughes found it. And I began to think “Alright. After all, Hughes is pretty good. He’s fine now. And I didn’t ever see Miggy’s home run. It could’ve been like the other night when he hit one off Joba: it could have been a good pitch and a homer that barely scraped the fence.”
Huuuuuuuughes
Okay, not really, I saw it now, and it was no cheapie. Nothing hit into the Yankee bullpen is a cheapie. But who cares about that homer?
Phil Hughes settled down mighty fine after that first inning. He made that face, the mean one, so I knew he was feeling good out there. After 6 innings of 2-run ball, Hughes’s afternoon was over, but that’s not because of ineffectiveness. Hughes pitched very well yesterday.
Sergio Mitre, on the other hand, did not pitch well. At all. Sorry cutie, but you didn’t. He came in in the 7th, and the team needed him to finish the game. The Yanks had a nice cozy lead, and the bullpen needed a breather. It was up to Mitre to finish it. But after throwing 30 pitches in his 1st inning, I wasn’t so sure. He did come out there for the 8th, and the 9th. It wasn’t pretty, but he closed out the game – allowing 3 runs in 3 innings.
Defensive Analysis: Mark Teixiera deserves another Gold Glove this year – no doubt. He’s a beast, and there is nothing he can’t catch. I think this explains it all:
Sliding into foul territory, bobble, falling, bobble, catch. Talk about perseverance.
Offensive Analysis: I didn’t know when/if the Yankees were going to start scoring. They perked up in the 4th, tying the game courtesy of RBI singles by Swisher and Granderson. 2-2.
The 6th inning is where all the fun really began. 9 runs in 1 inning, sealing the deal for the victory. Cano’s RBI double drove home Tex, giving the Yankees their first lead of the day, 3-2. But they didn’t stop there:
-Swisher walked, and Posada got an RBI single. 4-2
-Granderson walked to load the bases with none out. Austin Kearns got a 2-run double. 6-2
-Gardner walked, and Granderson scored on a pass ball. 7-2
-Gardner stole 2nd, and Jeter drove in 2 runs with a triple. 9-2
-Cano hit a 2-run homer. 11-2
Cano doing the “drop” with his bat after hitting a home run.
I kind of felt a little sorry for the Tigers. Everything just fell apart.
WHO AM I KIDDING??? I hate the Tigers. How could I forget…that ugly Jeremy Bonderman hit my sweet Brett Gardner on purpose the other day…right in his cute little shin. The Tigers deserved to lose like that.
So finally, the Yankees win a series. The heroes for the finale victory are Phil Hughes, for his impressive performance, and the whole Yankee lineup, for their impressive performance as well.
The Somebody Needs a Hug recipient for the finale is Sergio Mitre. Sergio, thank you for biting the bullet and finishing the game. It was hot, you were stinky, but you toughed it out and did your job. Thank you 🙂
The Yankees are back in first place! This time, they better stay there.
GO YANKEES!
What the Bombers are All About
Yanks Even Series in Tampa Bay
Last night’s game 2 win insured that the Yankees will leave Tampa Bay in first place where they belong. Ahh…that’s so comforting. I didn’t see game 1 of this series, and I’m glad I didn’t. I would have gotten too angry that they lost 3-2 and got just 1 hit after the first inning. But I don’t have to think about that, because game 2 had the desired results: Yankees win. It was another close game, but this time the Bombers came out on top 5-4.
Pitching Analysis: I’m so happy the trade deadline is over and Javier Vazquez is still on the team. I was afraid he would be dealt for someone like Jayson Werth. Thank GOD that didn’t happen. Javy has had the lowest ERA of all Yankee starters since May 12. I hoped this trend of success would continue last night. Javy battled, but he was good. He gave up a few leads, but managed to limit the damage and keep the Rays from a big inning. Vazquez threw 6.1 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits.
The bullpen was absolutely FABULOUS last night. The combo of David Robertson and Boone Logan is proving to be very effective. It almost reminds me of the Philthies Coke and Hughes last year. These guys are the new bridge to Mariano – sorry Joba. And Chan Ho, I’m sorry you were DFA’d. I hope someone picks you up, just not the Yankees 🙂
Robertson and Logan did their jobs and got the ball to Mariano, who of course picked up his 22nd save of the season.
Offensive Analysis: The Yankees played catch-up all of last night. Curtis Granderson’s sac fly in the 2nd tied the game at 1. In the 6th, the Yanks were down 3-1. Derek Jeter led off with a double, and Mark Teixeira hit an absolute BOMB for a 2-ruin homer to tie the game at 3.
The Yanks fell behind once again, and once again the home run gave them new life. Nick Swisher crushed a hanging curveball for a solo home run in the 7th, tieing the game at 4. The Yankees kept on fighting back. I didn’t think it was possible for them to lose, but it seemed odd for them to win, because they never had the lead.
Swish, running with his head down after his home run…just like a good little Yankee 😉
In the 9th with the score tied, the Rays brought out their big All-Star closer, Rafael Soriano. Robinson Cano, who already had two doubles, stepped up to the plate with 1 out. He is SUCH a beast. Is there anyone this guy can’t hit? He proved to me once again last night that he is a magical player. Robbie’s home run off Soriano gave the Yankees their first lead of the night, 5-4. That was all they needed.
Thank you, Robbie ♥
What really annoyed me was in 6th inning when Matt Joyce hit a homer to give the Rays a 4-3 lead. He was SO obnoxous. He did the “drop” with his bat, and just stared at it before finally performing his home-run trot. He was really showing off, and it was uncalled for. He should have just put his head down and ran, because that homer meant nothing: they LOST. I mean, who does he think he is? He has 5 homers this year. And he’s really tearing it up with a .230 batting average. Wow, he’s good. He and the Rays are ridiculous. They think who they are. But who are they? They need to show some class out there on the field. They really are the opposite of the Yankees. The Bombers had 3 home runs last night, and you didn’t see them showing off – even though Tex, Swish, and Cano are legit good players. No. They don’t do that because it isn’t right. The Yankees just drop the bat, put their heads down, and run. When they get back to the dugout, THEN they celebrate.
That’s what the Yankees are all about: class. They are the best team, and they don’t act obnoxious about it. Those pesky Rays aren’t the best, so why do they act like that? The need to stop being so cocky, because they haven’t proven anything yet. They didn’t win anything.
The heroes for last night’s Drama Club win are the new and IMPROVED bridge to Mariano, Mr. David Robertson and Mr. Boone Logan. You two are adorable, and you really make me proud. The other heroes are the 3 homer-boys from last night, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, and Robinson Cano. I’d like to thank you guys for your performance and behavior on the field. You make me proud in both respects.
I’d just like to welcome Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, and Kerry Wood to the Yankees. Guys, you will love it here. The Yankees know how to win. Sorry that you have to shave your beards and cut your hair, but I don’t think that’s a big price to pay. You guys are Yankees!
Hello, Mr. Big Puma. You will love the Bronx Zoo 🙂
Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees 